The Indian Odyssey of Michael and Nix

Since we missed the full moon walk around Mount Arunachala because of my dysentery, and as I’m only just on the mend, we hired bikes first thing this morning to cycle our way around the mountain instead. It felt great to be on the move after having been ill for 9 days. One of the positive effects of the illness is that I am grateful for my health all the more. I was ecstatic to be pedalling. Funny how we only really appreciate what we have when it is taken away from us. The 14km ride was beautiful – we rode past an abundance of temples, shrines and Saddhus. Inexplicably, there were also thousands of students lined up along the roadside waving and shouting as we cycled by, which made us feel like VIPs. Nix obliged by smiling and giving the royal wave as we passed down the never-ending line on our beaten up bikes. When we returned to the town centre Nix cycled through a large pile of viscous gob that someone had thoughtfully deposited on the ground. The result of which being that it sprayed up all over her leg. Lovely. Another lesson in non-aversion thanks to Mother India. We completed the route much faster than we thought, and as we’d hired the bikes for the day, we decided to brave the sun and continue to cycle along the village back roads to Perimpakkum. The beauty of Tamil Nadu for cyclists is that it’s mostly flat as a pancake. On our way we came across thousands more people lining up hand in hand along the main road. I stopped to ask a policeman what was going on. Perhaps Amitabh Bachchan was in town.... No such luck though – I was told that it’s election day. I can’t imagine a turnout like that for election day at home. Most people can’t be arsed since all the candidates are as corrupt as each other.... I’m sure they have their share of corrupt politicians here too, but the people seem to love them.5 hours later we returned home, happy but saddle sore.... I think we’re going to be walking bow legged for a day or two....